Social Media Policy For Archbold Park Board Coaches?

Vaughn Bentz, a member of Archbold Village Council and the Archbold Park Board, called for the park board to consider a policy on the use of social media by coaches.

During the Wednesday, May 8 Park Board meeting, Bentz said he was aware that two coaches in the Park Board soccer program were “Facebook friends” with players, and that coaches are communicating with players through text messages over cell phones.

“I don’t see any reason to do that. Don’t make Facebook friends with players,” he said.

He said in the past, he was aware of a coach from another program who was accused of inappropriate conduct with young players. Eventually, the accuser, a girl, admitted she had made the whole thing up.

All it would take, Bentz said, is for one post on the Internet to be misconstrued. It could create problems for the board.

Andrea Thiel, a Park Board member, said text messaging “can be a very effective tool” for notifying youngsters and parents about such things as cancelled practices or games.

She noted students will actually answer a text message faster than a call to their cell phones.

“I can send a text and within 30 seconds, “ding, ding, ding, ding,” they all respond, she said.

Jennifer Kidder, Archbold Parks & Recreation director, said social media is used to communicate schedule changes.

“But it shouldn’t be used for anything else,” she said.

Thiel, a teacher in the Archbold School District, said there are policies about social media use for teachers, “but how do you monitor it?”

Pool Prep Underway

Kidder said preparations for the season are underway at the Archbold Swimming Pool.

She said Bridget Wyse is returning as pool manager. Assistant managers are Sierra Nofziger and Nick Cassidy.

There are three new employees in the Parks & Recreation Department, she said.

Kidder also presented the board with 2013 wage classifications for all Park Board employees.

She said Parks & Recreation officials gave up trying to figure out how many years Joe Frank had worked in the parks.

She told the board she is still awaiting approval from the Ohio Historical Society before more shade structures can be built at the baseball diamonds in Memorial Park.

The society must certify that none of the grounds or buildings in the park are historically significant before the board can receive grant money to build the structures.

She told board members a flag football board is being developed to oversee the flag football program.

Summer Ball

Kidder said she is seeking donations to help support the summer baseball programs, and she is also asking for money for the Parks & Recreation scholarship fund.

The fund is used to reduce the cost of Parks & Recreation programs for families in need.

“We are going through money very quickly in the scholarship fund,” she said.

She told park board members Little League tryouts are complete. The first game is the week of May 20.

Executive Session

Park Board went into executive session for about five minutes during the meeting. The stated reasons for the closed-door session was property matters.

No action was taken when the board returned to regular session.

The next board meeting is Wednesday, June 12, 8 pm, in council chambers.–David Pugh